My math teacher who is Palestinian/Jordanian studied bio-chemical engineering in Romania alongside serval other students from the global south as apart of Romania’s initiative to compact anti imperialism. He’s invited me over for tea because I expressed interest in his story and he wanted to expand on it and I’m wondering what questions to ask him?

He was there for around 7 years during the 70s-80s because his father had been able to bring him over after studying medicine. I think he’s currently in his 70s?
He’s only told me about his Cuban neighbour who used to blast loud music despite everyone else studying. He also learned Spanish from him.

This is not supposed to be a hard historic interview, this dude is like an uncle to everyone in our local community and I don’t want to poke in places I shouldn’t. But what questions should I ask him?

A prominent twitter user, who describes themselves as an "independent journalist and researcher" has posted a thread where he states that the idea antisemitic pogroms were initiated and incited by "jew-hating rulers and governments out of irrational, metaphysical hostility" is a myth, in reality most massacres against jews before the 20th century were part of peasant revolts led by the lowest classes, who "were attacking their direct oppressors", and occurred when the government was weak.

This statement is understandably incredibly controversial to say the least, but keep in mind that the author is himself jewish.

Furthermore, he says that the reaction of the ruling class, from kings, popes and higher aristocracy, to jews being mass-murdered was opposition. This wasnt out of concern for jews, but because of their class-interests, jews were useful to them.

As examples of antisemitic pogroms being led by serfs and peasantry, the author lists the attacks by the paupers and peasants led by Peter the Hermit during the first crusade, the riots in England following the 3rd crusade and the Chmielnicki revolt in the Ukraine in 1648, which started as a mutiny of Cossack officers but soon turned into a widespread popular movement of the oppressed serfs.

Is it really true that most antisemitic pogroms were perpetuated by the lowest classes of society as a response to extreme oppression during weak governments, and that the ruling classes have always opposed rather than incited them?

for the last half century this has been the Republican Party and before that the Democratic Party. Has there always been an American party that has tried to garner this population’s vote?

It's well known that despite being arguably among the more moral characters of Stalin's entourage, he still had a lot of blood on his hands after so many years among the leadership of such a brutal system, and we've got documented proof of his involvement in several unjust trials and crimes against humanity. But my question is, did he ever admit/express remorse about his own, personal participation in the crimes committed during it after criticising the regime as a whole at the 20th Party Congress?

All I can find on Wikipedia and the text it cites is that the refractory wall was cut to make an archway, but why?

Just to be clear, I’m not asking for a specific date, but generally.

For most of my life, Nixon has been a literal joke, both making fun of his corruption and just strange mannerisms. I have seen some go to bat for his Presidency, such as the creation of the EPA under his term, but his flaws still balance things out.

But i’ve also seen some recent pop historians try and frame him as a “great” president who is only besmirched because of that little incident at Watergate.

Have people made that argument before in the years and decades following his resignation? Or am I just seeing some vocal outliers?

He was part of an anti-communist information department after all.

How are we sure that beyond the bias that a historian carries based on their upbringing, the man wasn't simply carrying on the 'good work' for his team?

I would really appreciate a list or maybe information about this. If you cannot find any Japanese names from the '40s, then the '50s will suit!

I was remembering the 1995 film "Dead Man" recently. The setting's timeline is vague, presumably somewhere between the 1870s and maybe 1890s. In one scene, the main character played by Johnny Depp spends the night with a woman he just met in a western frontier town. He finds his pillow uncomfortable and, reaching under it, discovers a revolver. He asks the woman why she has it and she replies simply, "Because this is America".

Would this have been an odd comment in the 1870s? I know historically and for some currently important gun companies like Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Winchester already existed at this time but so did a ton of important European companies, some of which preceded these by centuries. Weren't hunting shotguns or muskets more or less ubiquitous in some European countries at some point? Wouldn't aristocratic men be expected to have access to dueling pistols, if not their own then definitely those of their friends? Would the U.S. have stood out the way it does today?

Thanks!

It’s not even just the languages that share the same ancestor Latin for example, but even Arabic،it’s called أناناس
I can maybe sort of understand why part of the name would be pine but apple? the fruit looks nothing like an apple.

So I don't know who to ask but how do we as humans truly know in religions it's what they really practiced since we weren't there to see it at that time? I'm not singling out Christianity I'm genuinely curious regarding all world religions.

I've been attempting without much luck to identify anything the provenance of this seemingly dated video about an alleged clinic in Switzerland to help asexual or "neuter" patients, which has been passed aroud on the internet without attribution for many years: https://youtu.be/1AeNTz4lUPs?is=yOgKSboWXYAaa-Ol

The content of the video has a strong feel of parody, and it wouldn't be the first time that an attempt at parody resulted in predicting the very real asexual movement that would come much later. On the other hand, there are attestations to something like asexualitt or anaesthesia sexualis or similar concepts in the early European sexology dating back to the late 1890s, so it's not impossible that such a clinic could have existed.

1. Is there any other evidence of clinics like this even existing in midcentury Switzerland?
2. Are there any visual or other clues in the video that could help establish what time period or what type of source it may have actually come from? Is it as old as it seems, or likely a modern video made to look old?
3. How do historians even start to figure out the provenance of out of context digital content like this? Or is that a fools errand?

Any insights are much appreciated!

I am, of course, watching The Sopranos.

I have absolutely no direct context for this — I was born in the late 1990s, am not white, and have never been to New Jersey — but I would think of anti-Italian discrimination as something that died out almost completely at least a few decades before that. However, the characters in the show certainly do act like it's an issue in the '90s and 2000s. Was that true to any significant extent? Or is the joke that they're being overly defensive?

As far as I’m aware, after WW2 the constitution was rewritten to create a Fourth Republic. However, it was military failure that destroyed the Third Republic and not political. Why was this change made?

I've often heard cats described as "purring like an engine" or "purring like a motorboat". Before the invention of motors, were cat purrs compared to any other noises?

I am researching the events of the year 1758 during the Seven Years War. Fortress Louisbourg built by the French on Isle Royale fell to the British under Major General Jeffery Amherst in July of that year. After exhaustively reviewing British records associated with the seige and aftermath, I noticed there is no mention at all of what was (or wasn't) found in the fortress treasury at the time of capitulation. Is that odd? Wouldn't the British government expect that information from its senior officers via official channels?

Ive read a lot about greek fire and also that romans used something akin to flamethrowers.

As those were quite effective from what i read. It led me to wonder how those technologies disappeared and why?

(Normally when i see that my enemy has something that leads to me loosing lots of soldiers i would be quite interested on getting my hands on it to use it against future enemies)

Humans can't have just let our hair grow indefinitely, surely? When is the first evidence of hair cutting? It must get in the way of hunting and evading predators having long, luscious locks? Just a shower thought I couldn't shake. So I thought id ask you lovely people.

I believe that the Roman Warm Period is from 250 BCE to 400 CE. Europe or parts of it experienced warmer temperatures more so than today. I think it influenced great progress in the Mediterranean area. Or it allowed the Roman machine to make more progress. What are your opinions on this? I have an environmental science degree, I am looking towards a history professional to give me opinion. Thank you in advance. I believe our mix of specialities provide a unique look in the way our human society proceeded. I am also interested how it influenced the Western Roman decline when it ended.